The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has been trying to improve their foster care system since a 2008 settlement agreement with federal monitors.
State officials say that those changes have been working. Recently, the state added a new department with the goal of focusing on the overall well-being of children.
Demetrius Starling is the executive director if the MDHHS Children's Services Agency. He says that mental health services are just as important as physical services for children.
He says, "there's a new arm of our department, which deals directly with Children's Behavioral Health. And we work directly with them to ensure that kids who are placed in foster homes or in congregate care, get quick and easy access to mental health services."
MDHHS appeared virtually in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan for the latest update in January, which has been tracking progress of MDHHS since a 2008 settlement agreement after a 2006 lawsuit.
The judge overseeing MDHHS improvements says that more work needs to be done to address other issues mentioned by federal monitors.
According to the state, some additional actions that have allowed them to see improvements include:
- Efforts to provide a wider array of placements to better meet the needs of each child.
- $25 million in lump sum payments to congregate care facilities that commit to provide services to children in the 2023 fiscal year.
- Rate increases for child-caring institutions averaging 5% for abuse and neglect programs and 12% for juvenile justice programs, which includes a $2 per hour direct wage increase for staff at the facilities.
- A 20% increase in rates paid to foster parents, independent living providers, relatives, and adoptive parents and guardians.
- Improved oversight of congregate care facilities for youth.
- A student loan repayment program to help address a shortage of workers in the behavioral health field that has limited options available for children with mental health needs, including those in foster care and the juvenile justice systems.
